DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
PART OF A SELF-ALARM SYSTEM FOR A SLEEPING BRAIN
(Part 2/2)
by
POLAT KAYA
Copyright © 1987
4. METHOD OF ANALYSIS
In my research, the method of analysis involved relating the dream scenario to the physical and/or physiological conditions that I found myself in, immediately after awakening from a dream. The state of the body during dreaming and the dream scenarios seem to be related to each other, particularly, the dream scenario that causes the awakening. To achieve any correlation between the two events, it is important to remember the dream while trying to retain and observe the external and internal conditions of the body as soon as one wakes up from dreaming. Quite often, this is difficult to do since it seems that the brain, almost automatically, commands the body to change its position upon awakening. The observer does not always remember that he/she wanted to analyze the situation. Normally one tends to go back to sleep after changing sleep position. Yet, to do a situation analysis one needs to stay awake and, without disturbing the physical state of the body, observe the body's state and the environmental conditions influencing it at that time. Therefore, one has to make special effort so that a good opportunity is not missed.
5. SLEEP-TIME OPERATIONS CENTER FOR THE BRAIN (STOC)
If the brain must sleep, and this seems to be a mandatory requirement, then for the purpose of self maintenance and/or some other reason, there must be a back-up system which ensures the survival of the brain and body while the brain is asleep. The back-up system can be in the form of a duplication of the brain itself or a lesser system. Similarly if the brain must sleep and at the same time maintain "motor control capability" on the body, then the back-up system probably has to be as complete and as complex as the main system. This would mean having a second brain so that while one is sleeping, the other brain tends to the needs and requirements of the sleeping brain as well as the rest of the body.
However, if the brain must sleep and yet does not need to have the "motor control capability" on the rest of the body (in other words the body may assume the so called "sleep paralysis state" while the brain is sleeping) then the back-up system does not have to be as complete and as complex as the main brain is - as long as the back-up system has the capability to:
In the first model we have a duplication of the master control system. In the second model we have a master control system and a "Sleep-Time Operations Center". The second model, as an optimized design, would need less energy for its operations and maintenance than the first model. In time, the nature of the STOC and the way it works will eventually be defined by neuroscientists.
The STOC would take charge of the body while the brain is asleep. During sleep, information from all sensors (both outside and inside the body) would be sent continuously to the STOC. Such data would represent the monitored environmental conditions and their influence on the sleeping body at that time.
I consider that one of the main functions of the STOC would be to act as the guardian of the body while the brain is sleeping and to wake up the sleeping brain when needed. This function would be carried out by the STOC when the sleep time discomfort level of various parts of the body, as represented by the signals coming from the sensory systems, exceed the stress threshold limits set for such signals.
6. SLEEP PARALYSIS
The so called "sleep paralysis" means that parts of the body cannot be moved while the brain is asleep. I see this as insurance, designed by Nature and perfected through evolution, to prevent possible harm that a sleeping body could cause itself if it moved during sleep.
As the brain goes to sleep, the Sleep-Time Operations Center of the brain takes over the function of guarding the body and waking up the sleeping brain when needed. It seems Nature has made sure that the STOC need not have "motor control capability" over the muscle system of the body. This is in harmony with the self preservation principle of the body and also explains the "sleep paralysis" state. For early man who may have slept in a cave or in the top of a tree, body parts such as the head, arms and legs that moved energetically and in an uncontrolled manner under the influence of a violent nightmare condition, could readily inflict severe if not fatal injuries to the body while the brain is asleep. The objective of the STOC in guarding the body must be to awaken the brain first so that it becomes fully alert, takes full control of the body, assesses the situation and then takes the necessary motor action in order to reduce and/or eliminate the danger or discomfort applied to the body at that time. In this model, the STOC tries to wake up the brain by inducing "dreaming" or the REM sleep.
7. NIGHTMARES
In real life, each individual learns about many events by means of direct and/or indirect experience. The nature of all of these events may range from being most pleasant to most terrifying. It may be that such events, when they are being learned, are graded by the brain with special regard to their terrifying effects. Those events which are most terrifying in nature to a person are remembered for a long time indicating that they are stored in the long-term memory of the brain to be used later in dreams when the survival of the self is threatened during sleep.
During sleep, when the body is subjected to potential life threatening situations, dream scenarios are generated and eventually converted into nightmares by the STOC. It seems that the STOC is capable of evaluating the potential threat to the body from the prevailing environmental conditions and making judgements about them based on the signals coming in to the STOC from different parts of the body. Accordingly, the STOC probably accesses, from the memory system, data representing some of the previously learned terrifying events as appropriate to the incoming signals and uses them in generating nightmares.
One Very Important Starting Condition of Nightmares
It has been my continuous observation that during sleep when the nasal passages get blocked due to the degree that one cannot breath and the oxygen intake to the brain is then reduced to a dangereously low level, the sleeping brain will go first into dreaming and then nightmare mode in every case. As the level of oxygen to the brain decreases, the brain's self-alarm system forces the sleeping brain to wake up via the dreams and nightmares. I have observed this over and over again. It seems that when the person is a through the nose-breather as I am during sleep, the majority of nightmares are caused by the blockage of nasal passages. In my own nightmare experiences, I have discovered that my nose is blocked to the degree that I can hardly breath. This is probably a condition that millions of people experience throughout their life but yet attribute such nightmares to unrelated causes. I believe the conditions that induce nose blockage during sleep and thereby cause nightmares, should be investigated thoroughly by sleep scientists. Solutions that prevent nose blockage during sleep could save a lot of sleepless nights for many people. Repeated interruptions of the deep-sleep mode, with short durations of sleep, seem to be the most tiring and nerve wracking conditions that could or should be avoided.
My observations regarding nightmares are summarized below:
8. WHY DREAMS ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT?
In each sleeping period, the dreams dreamt by people are different from the previous ones. Why is this?
The fact that all dream scenarios differ from each other may be due to Nature's need for a credible self-alarm system. If we had the same dream patterns every time, the brain could get used to seeing them and ignore them.
The signals coming from various parts of the body represent real situations which may or may not be life threatening. They eventually become sources of discomfort for the sleeping body. However, they must not be ignored based on the assumption that they represent unimportant situations. If the STOC treats the incoming messages as unimportant and ignores them, it will eventually jeopardize the survival of the sleeping brain and body. Therefore, such a situation must never be allowed. Every incoming signal must be evaluated on its own merit and graded in accordance with the severity of the threat that the situation poses to the body. Each condition, being external or internal to the body at that time and influencing the body while the brain is asleep, must be treated accordingly as a dream scenario which may range from being a pleasant one to a nightmare.
In real life, a security system is expected to be credible. An alarm system without credibility is not a believable system. Alarms from such a system are regarded as "false alarms" and are therefore ignored. Like a real life security system, the self-alarm system for a sleeping brain must also be credible. For the survival of the body, Nature cannot afford to consider an incoming stimulus to be due to a false alarm condition and thus ignore it. Nature must ensure that false alarm assumptions are never made by the STOC. In order to guard the brain and the rest of the body against all possible life threatening conditions during sleep, the brain's self-alarm system must always generate credible alarm signals. In other words, a different dream scenario must be generated for each case even though the stimulus may be the same. The same dream scenario must not be presented over and over again so that the brain gets used to seeing it and starts ignoring it.
For example, Hildebrand's three alarm clock dreams (Ref 1, p.27-28) where three different dream scenarios were caused by the same stimulus can be explained by the "credibility requirement" that Nature must have applied to the "self-alarm function" of dreaming.
9. DO WE HAVE A SIXTH SENSE?
Some of the dream scenarios described in Freud's Interpretation of Dreams also brings this question to mind. For example, in the so called "Three Alarm Clock Freams" of Hildebrandt, (Ref. 1, p.27-28), it seems as if some sensory system was watching the alarm clock all the time. As if his dreaming and the "ringing of the alarm clock" were synchronized. This kind of "synchronized" waking up with an alarm clock has also been experienced by this author.
A similar situation in Maury's dream, (Ref. 1, p.26-27) is also noted where he sees himself "being beheaded". As he wakes up from his dream, he finds that the top of his bed had just collapsed and he was hit with it.
It is again very curious to find that the imminent collapsing of the top of his bed was sensed by some sensing system (associated with the body) which then translated that event into a dream scenario.
The unavoidable question is: "how this event, i.e., in this case the collapsing of the top of the bed, was sensed before it happened?". Do we have a sixth sensory system that works only while we are asleep?
If indeed there were such a sensing system which works during sleeping only, it would not be an easily noticeable or self evident system. On the other hand, being "self evident or easily perceived" would not be the prime objective of such a sensory system. Its prime objective would probably be to act as an early warning aid to the sleeping brain from an impending dangerous situation. In the life of early man, such a sensing system would be invaluable since he/she would be sleeping outdoors, in caves and/or on tree tops. Modern man sleeps in relatively very safe quarters. The utilization of such a system may not be very frequent and, hence, detecting its presence may be elusive.
10. REM SLEEP OF GIRAFFE
During dreaming, Rapid Eye Movements, normally referred to as REM, are observed in sleep research subjects. The REM sleep may be considered as part of the transitional state during which the brain is being excited by the STOC to wake up from the sleeping mode so that it gains sufficient consciousness to eliminate the disturbance to the body by changing its sleeping position or by altering the environment. During dreaming, the eyes are probably responding to the feedback signals from the visual scenes of the dream scenario and also from following the dream pictures.
REM sleep has also been observed in other mammals, (11). For example, frequent REM sleep has been observed in sleeping giraffes. During sleep, the giraffe rests its head on its own body by bending its neck. Frequently, following REM sleep, the giraffe wakes up, changes the position of its body and neck, and then goes back to sleep. Surely, a sleeping position in which the neck is bent almost 180 degrees from its normal position is not expected to be a comfortable position. In this position, possible contraints in the blood supply system to the brain can take place and, hence, result in the observed frequent REM sleep.
11. NO REM SLEEP OF BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN
An interesting exception is the sleeping mode of the bottle-nosed dolphins (11). This mammal seems to have developed a special sleeping feature such that during sleep only one cerebral hemisphere is sleeping at a time while the other remains awake. These roles are reversed after about an hour. The sleep is reported to be mostly deep sleep and without apparent signs of REM sleep. With such a sleeping feature, it is not surprising that REM sleep is not observed on bottle- nosed dolphins. Since one side of the dolphin's brain is always awake and, therefore, its main alarm and control system always active and functioning, there is no need for the brain to have a secondary self-alarm system such as dreaming.
12. WHY DREAMS ARE NOT REMEMBERED?
Most of the time, dreams are forgotten by the majority of people after they awaken from their dreams. Normally one will not remember them unless one pays special attention to remember them. Even with special attention directed to remembering dreams, one can remember only some very prominent features of them. The question of "Why do we not remember dreams?" may be explained as follows:
If the function of dreaming is to wake up the sleeping brain under adverse sleeping conditions, once the dreaming has achieved this objective, then its function stops for that sleeping period. After this purpose has been achieved, there is no need for the brain to remember the dream details. If we remember some parts of some dreams, it is simply a redundant after effect that is not required for any aspect of the body's survival. Essentially, Nature must have intended that the dream contents of each dreaming period be used "one time only". Once the dreaming has carried out its function of waking up the sleeping brain, the dream signals are readily erased or replaced by background noise signals such as the light and sound signals in the sleeping environment.
For example, it is important for a baby to dream, yet it is not important to remember the contents of the dream. During sleep, a helpless baby dreams to wake up from conditions which affect him/her adversely. After waking up, the baby moves parts of his/her body, i.e., arms, legs, head, etc.. If these actions are not sufficient for the baby's comfort, the baby cries to attract the mother's attention so that conditions affecting the baby adversely can be corrected by the mother.
Like dreaming, the "crying" after waking up from some dreams or nightmares is also part of the self-alarm and defence system of the baby's body. Both the dreaming and crying carry out their intended functions - which are to awaken the sleeping brain under adverse bodily and physical conditions and to call for mother's help in order to insure the survivability of the body. After this objective is achieved, there is no need to remember what the dream contents were or why the baby cried.
People dream when there is a need to wake up. The movements of sleep subjects during night long sleeping have been recorded. When one watches such visual recordings, one sees that the sleep subject does a lot of turning and twisting during their sleep. This is so with everyone. Most of the movements seem to be associated and are preceded with dreaming. The sleeping brain wakes up to correct the discomforting situation by commanding the body as a whole or parts of the body to move in a desired way and then goes back to sleep. The function of dreaming for this portion of sleep has been achieved. The next section of sleep gets its own dream scenario.
13. FETUS ALSO DREAMS
It is reported that the fetus also dreams (11,12) in a mother's womb. This is indicated by the REM observed from the fetus. A mother's womb may be the most secure place for an unborn to be in but it may not necessarily be the most comfortable place. Particularly since the mother's physical and psychological health (stresses) affects the baby's comfort and physical well being. The unborn baby has to defend itself continuously against any adverse condition created by the mother's activity. If the fetus is sleeping, dreaming wakes up the sleeping brain of the fetus; the brain activates movements of the baby's limbs which in turn cause sensations in the mother. If the mother is not sleeping at that time, she consciously or unconsciously corrects her own position. However, if the mother is also sleeping at that time, the fetus's activities within the mother's body would induce dreaming in the mother's sleep and cause her to wake up and correct the situation thus relieving the baby's predicament in the mother's womb. Nature seems to have provided a self-alarm and self-defence system for the unborn baby to take care of itself even in the most secure space within the mother's body.
14. SUMMARY
A host of roles and interpretations have been attributed to dreaming while asleep. Hopefully, research in this field will eventually give us an insight into the real role that sleep and dreaming play in our lives. Meanwhile, I wish to share my observations with sleep researchers and propose the theory that dreaming during sleep, which may be in the form of ordinary dreams and nightmares, is an important part of the brain's self-alarm system needed by the brain in order to secure its own survival and also the rest of the body's survival against possible harm that may be created by the body itself during sleep, gravity and/or other external environmental conditions. It seems that dream scenarios are generated by a part of the brain which I call the "Sleep-Time Operations Centre". This part of the brain may have the function to early-warn and wake up the brain against impending situations which may be harmful to the body if the brain continues to sleep under the prevailing conditions.
In addition, this paper also proposes the view that:
15. REFERENCES
1........ S. Freud, "The Interpretation of Dreams", Basic Books, Inc. Publishers, New York.
2........ "Sleep, Dreams and Memory" edited by William Fishbein. SP Medical and Scientific Books, New York,
1981.
3........ Ernest Hartmann, "The Functions of Sleep and Memory Processing", Chapter 7 of Ref. 2.
4........ Dreams and Dreaming Selected Readings, Edited by S.G.M. Lee and A.R. Mayes,
Penguin Education Books.
5........ H.P. Roffwarg, J.N. Muzio and W. Dement, "Ontogenetic Development of the Human
Sleep-Dream Cycle", Science, Vol. 152, p. 604-619, 1966.
6........ F. Snyder, "Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Dreaming", Amer. J. Psychiatry,
Vol. 1234, p.121-142, 1966.
7........ H.S. Ephron and P. Carrington, "Rapid Eye Movement Sleep and Cortical Homeostatis",
Psychological Review, Vol. 73, p.500-526, 1966.
8........ Ralph J. Berger, "Oculomotor Control: a possible function of REM sleep", Psychological
Review, Vol. 76, p.144-164, 1969
9........ Francis Crick and Graeme Mitchison, "The Function of Dream Sleep",
Nature, Vol. 304, p.111-114, 1983.
10...... Monitor Section, "From DNA to Hedgehog Dreams", New Scientist, July 28, 1983.
11...... Jim Horne, "Why do we need to sleep?", New Scientist, p.429, 12 Sep., 1981.
12...... Jim Horne, "The Cinema of the Mind", New Scientist, p.627, 2 Sep., 1982.
13...... Morton Schatzman, "Such Stuff as REM Sleep is made of", New Scientist, p.796, 15 Sep., 1983.
14...... "Sleep: the well-hidden secrets of Nature's soft nurse", Economist, p.85, 29 Sep., 1984.
15...... Ramon Greenberg, "Dreams and REM Sleep - An Integrative Approach", p.125 of Ref. 2.
16...... J. S. Antrobus and H. Ehrlichman, "The 'Dream' Report: Attention, Memory,
Functional Hemispheric Asymmetry and Memory Organization", p.135 of Ref. 2.
The original of this paper was reported in CANADIANA, (Canada's national bibliography) dated July 1987 under the code C87-6202-6 MRDS Pt.1 612'.821
Last updated on this website on November 26,1997.
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